Florida students make trek to Phila.

The Florida Gulf Coast University team's upset win over perennial basketball powerhouse Georgetown University in the first round of the NCAA tournament may have shocked most sports fans, but the 50 Florida Gulf students who made the 23-hour bus trip from Fort Myers to Philadelphia to watch their team were not at all surprised.

The Eagles are going all the way, said John Fletcher, 22, of Tampa, who arrived to cheer on his university. He picked the team to beat Louisville in the finals.

"It is amazing how a basketball team can bring a university together," said Peter Cuderman, student body president, who also made the trip to Philadelphia.

The campus went wild after the win, Cuderman said. He expected about 200 Florida Gulf students would be in the stands Sunday, with more driving through the night or flying here.

Five years ago, there were about five students in the stands during Florida Gulf Coast University basketball home games, and the rest of the crowd was made up of season ticket holders from the community, the students said.

Those days have long passed. Current students and soon-to-be alumni expect to pack the stands from now on.

The Florida university is now leading in Google searches and trending on Twitter, and even President Obama weighed in on the win. Professors at the university are sending e-mails to students at the game to share links to ESPN stories.

But there is more to the school than basketball.

"We have a beach," Cuderman said. The campus is on a man-made lake, and students can check out boats, kayaks, paddleboards, and canoes to use in their off hours.

The university is known for its business, engineering, and environmental-sustainability programs. In the 16 years since the university opened, the student body has grown to about 12,000. There were two Olympians on the women's swim team - Danielle Beaubrun and Karen Vilorio - and the baseball team has won the Atlantic Sun Conference championship three years in a row.

Though the school may not yet be a household name, everyone in the group of Florida Gulf students hanging out in the airport Hilton Hotel lobby Saturday night expected enrollment applications to increase after the big win.

"I don't think anybody will be embarrassed to wear the [Florida Gulf] T-shirt anymore," David Merrill, 23, of Englewood, Fla., said.

"Next to living on a beach, this is pretty awesome," said Nicholas Kutz, 18, of Naples, Fla.